SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1
Confrontation
*(*
Desolate, the horizon of the city is the only adjective to describe it. Looming in the distance of the downtrodden, jaded city is the very building that I have called my home and imprisonment. The building may have moved but the aura around it has not weakened. I touch the hilt of my katana reassuringly as I grin. My dark steel eyes contract into slits, this is the end. The glorious end that I have been awaiting is arriving. Nothing will go wrong, I will kill Blade and then I will die. It shall be just like the demented nightmares of since two years ago. I press on the accelerator to relieve the itch of waiting. It is so close, so very close.
The scarlet blood of my enemies will be shed on their own red carpets. I alone will be standing in their dying wake as their slayer. I shall free them, and they shall free me. My katana sings for his blood, and I shall fill its desires with the blood of the murderer of my father. Unconsciously a flash of an image flew threw my mind of a certain woman with violet hair and shimmering emerald eyes.
damn her.
She betrayed me I gave her more than enough by leaving her a breath in her lungs; I shouldn't sacrifice more to have her in my thoughts. I grimace as I near the Syndicate building; It does not seem more on alert than usual. This will ease things up a bit. The lone glass masked building withholding sharp remnants of painful memories scrapes the torn sky ahead of me. The only differing of color is the shades of gray that pass by my silver zip craft. The white street lights move by my window ominously as I descend and prepare to land the zipcraft a block to the south of the syndicate building.
Now for the preparation
I reach over in the glove compartment of my triangular zip craft and remove three throwing knives and three timed mines. As much as I would love not to make a large appearance, these mines will come in handy. Spike proved that theory correct. Damn, now I am thinking of that bastard! Have I actually gone this soft? No I haven't, people say life flashes before your eyes before you die, I guess this must be the beginning stages.
I unsheathe my katana and exit the zipcraft, the scissor doors open upward with a swoosh of air. I step out; the air is dark and heavy with humidity, a relief to the frozen dry air of Callisto. I feel soulless, I feel nothing now, the anticipation gone, feeling of excitement diminished, the wound in my stomach no longer hurts. I feel numb. I am used to feel something, whether it is pleasure of killing or anticipation of a battle or even pain of the wounds I receive. This is foreign.
I don't think I like this feeling, but it is too late now. I am already at the gate. Step one- locate complete. The heavy, black wrought-iron gate that holds so many untold stories and unshed tears of the families of the Syndicate is right here. I turn to my left and see a security guard with a pass on his shirt
"Hey you get away from—" oops I guess I should have let the good man finish his sentence. I throw the body aside, regarding his slit throat with little thought as I take his pass and run it into the card slot at the base of the gate. The gate swings open with mechanical precision. I float into the compound, sinister, soulless. It makes the hair on the back of your neck prick up if you are just a passer-by. I am not used to the feeling, I am the feeling. I am the feeling of the demon about ready to strike…I am the beast. There was one other too, a different beast, but one nonetheless. His name along with his two colored eyes will remain unspoken.
Click
Now the fun begins. I dive into the shadows as machine-gun operators spray the vicinity around me messily. No Style. I realize they are shooting from either side of the double doors. Obviously I am an unwelcome guest in my own home. No problem, I fan out my cloak and sprint up to the nearest guy.
Bullet holes riddle through my fanned cloak, missing my body as I jump high in the air and whip my katana around in a crescent at the mans neck and again at his chest before descending. The other mans eyes bulge from his head as he shoots at almost point blank range. Almost is the key word, one of the bullets from his assault rifle grazes my left shoulder as I plunge my long bladed katana into his heart. Needless to say, he wont be speaking any last words.
I try to feel excitement, anything, but I cant.
I pick up the assault rifle from the still-warm hands of the man and smash the reinforced bullet-proof glass with the butt of the gun. It shatters as I take one of my mines and throw it into the foyer of the building. One. Two. Three. I see a burst of flame and cries as the mine explodes rendering everyone in the vicinity dead. I step into the once-grand entranceway, the red carpet burnt. It is now smoldering and the charred black marble walls and columns that flank the stairwell are ghostly haunting in the distance.
My feet step on shattered glass, making little noise, but noise that proves I am alive. I look about the grand entrance way, a large stairwell towers ahead, and two sets of doors on the east and west walls of the room are closed and locked.
Where is everyone?
I frown slightly, wherever they are I will find them soon. I walk quickly down the body strewn carpet and place a shadowy foot on the first step. I realize one of the tapestries is still on fire from the bomb that I threw. The flame climbs up the tapestry delicately, incinerating the threads slowly, prolonging the torture.
Bmmmm bmmmmm bmmmm bmmmm
It begins. I see five syndicate men spill from the two sets of doors behind me. I sprint up the rest of the flights of steps while bullets wiz by my arms and face, impaling themselves in the marble behind me. My cloak tatters in the wake of the handgun fire. I reach the top of the steps and duck to the right behind the half-wall for cover as I ready my cold fingers on my katana hilt.
I hear the men run up the stairs, their black boots thumping heavily on the stairs tell me where they are. Just as the first man reaches the summit, I dive and slice the first mans stomach in two as I duck into a roll to dodge the stray bullets. I plant my right foot solidly as I spring and whip my katana in three long strokes, lacerating their chests and necks. I land and stumble a small fraction on the uneven stair.
A small fraction was too much
The last man shoots another bullet that rips across my right side before I could react. He will pay. I rip my katana upwards, the blade slicing his body vertically, striking his ribs. I could feel the katana blade catch on his unfortunate chin. Blood spurts from my left shoulder and right side. I don't feel the pain; it is just a tingle really. I look at the five slain men sprawled out in various positions across the stairwell. I pick up one of the man's handguns and check for ammo. Seven shots left.
I hate guns, I do. After the war on Titan I vowed that in battle I would never use one again. I remember my superiors in the war praised my on my accuracy and attack capability countless times. Gren thought that was something to be proud of, medals, badges, all showing that I shot someone out in a desert over…nothing. I don't know why exactly I went in that war, after Spike betrayed me, and Julia, I left for a year. I left to try to figure out answers to questions I did not even ask. It did not make sense. Gren was ultimately accused of being a traitor, I didn't accuse him. I had no reason to. I didn't really care if I ever saw Gren after that again, well except for Red Eye. That was strictly business though, Supply and demand. I could get it; he couldn't, so I sold it to him, that simple.
I drop the gun distastefully as the crimson fire raced from the tapestry onto the ceiling. The blackened ceiling, crumbling and warping from the heat, begins to drop flaming plaster. I feel little tongues of heat brush across my face I place the other two mines behind me and set them...this will keep them from following me. I shift my steel eyes to the left and run down the hallway, readying my katana on the way. I need to find the elevator. I hear the deafening explosion and the ceiling crumbling, creating a mound of plaster, fire and rubble.
Using my 'stealth' Syndicate training I begin to duck in and out of corridors. I am unfamiliar to this new building considering they rebuilt the headquarters after the history two years prior with Spike. Someone forgot to tell them history has a way of repeating itself. I am not saying what I am doing is what that jackass did, but the outcome, fortunately and unfortunately will be the similar. Except for the fact that I will make sure my enemy is dead before I go to die.
"There they are get them!" I hear a medley of excited and frightened voices yell and point as they begin to fire at me in front of the opening of the dark green narrow corridor. I narrow my eyes as I recall the training of bullet dodging. Do not loose eye contact, Never panic. Keep your balance and if necessary use sword or other method to deflect bullets. Jumping will surprise them but never jump at the same height or direction twice. Never show fear, mercy or compassion. This is a battle, and compassion on a battle field is like a drop of water in a bucket of oil...compassion will only bring you down.
I smirk as I deflect a bullet with my katana deftly, the sharp twang of the metal makes my katana vibrate in my clasped hand shortly. I jump high into the air, my skin coming in contact with the light of the conjoining hallway. I see the surprise and confusion on the faces of the men. Strike three. I writhe my body full force into a spinning motion as my katana follows and slashes the neck, chest, torso, stomach of four people before I land. The last two people stare at me. I love fear, yet I don't feel the rise anymore.
"How can this be...Vicious? Vicious was captured..." The first mans face pales, his light blue eyes turning a ghostly hue. The other man isn't even moving, his automatic pistol drops to the brown carpeted floor with a heavy thud. I was about to silence them when a familiar face came into view down the hallway a few meters.
"Vicious stop. Killing the syndicate men will get you to Blade no quicker. You are already injured.." The wound made by Faye has reopened adding the to large claret stain on my dark shirt. I roll my eyes; the night in shining armor Shin has come to rescue the school girls. His slanted teal eyes narrow his hair is in disarray and his syndicate uniform is not of an elite class, but of the next subordinate one. General.
"If you take me to Blade now, I will not kill you." I say flatly. I could care less if those two lived or died. I look into Shin's eyes piercingly, his trying to pierce right back. I have known Shin for a while and even though with all the Syndicate training that he has, he still cant suppress the emotion that seeps through his teal eyes. He still mourns for his brother, Lin.
I cannot help that. I am not one able to resurrect the dead, Even if I had that power I would not use it to resurrect Lin; I would bring life back to my mother. Her death was very sudden, a simple zip craft accident. The engine over-heated and with the new technology that the syndicate had, the zip craft combusted suddenly. It is not unheard of, but at the age of 22 having it happen to my mother, the strong pretty lady she was, struck like an unseen bullet. Fast and hard.
"Ok Vicious, I'll take you to Blade, but if we run into anyone, let me do the injuring." He motioned me seriously to follow him with a tilt of his angular face. I put my katana to my side and pushed though the two, white-as-a- ghost, men and began to catch up with Shin.
"Why should I let you fight and not myself?" I ask. My silver hair, still clean from the blood, shines in the florescent lighting in the grey-blue hallway.
"You have the tendency to kill every Syndicate person you see, I would like to have some people to order around by the time you leave." Shin's humor always seems to get to me. Ever since he was a small kid, only his and Spike's and Lin's humor could really make me smile. I manage a grin this time.
"You are demoted though...you were an elite class only the head of the syndicate can order an elite class member to be de-ranked." I state matter-of-factly. I was an elite class, I knew what the elders could do...but yet that did not stop me. I left Shin an elite class member when I took charge, I knew full well that Shin hated me, but he knew when to hate and when to obey. That was, and still is fine with me.
"Blade has a…different agenda. He appointed all new elite class members and disposed of most the old members. I was ranked down to a mere private until I rose through the ranks again. Blade has gone insane, he wants an experienced elite class member that can train a unit to take out the leaders of the other syndicates–" I cut him off
"So...my name is first on his list." I grumbled low under my breath. My gray eyes narrowing as I run down countless corridors and up many flights of stairs. My legs do not feel the strain though. I feel numb, except my mind is reeling.
"Precisely. He also just hates you though too. He needs to be stopped, the madness and bloodshed has to end. The other syndicates are teaming up against the Red Dragons. Blade has sent so many poorly trained assassin units to dispatch their leaders." God...if there is one major flaw with Shin is he doesn't know when to stop talking. "At first we thought you was actually a unit from another Syndicate sent here to kill Blade while he was busy waiting the arrival of the bounty hunters that captured you."
He stops talking as we near a corner leading to an elevator guarded by two armed guards. Good, they haven't realized that I am here yet ore else there would be twenty.
I look at Shin angrily as he takes his gun and shakily aims it at the first man. He shoots twice, hitting them both in the sides. Tranquilizer bullets, just like his big brother.
"Behind that door is Blade's office/ personal area. He will be there." Shin nods as he looks at me in the eyes.
"Vicious, I have hated you since Spike left the Syndicate. Now, I see that the moon has many phases...and the truth many faces. I still will not let you take over the Syndicate though." His eyes shaking with inner conflict as something inside me shifts similar to the feeling I feel around Faye. I did not realize how wide my eyes were until I narrow them.
"Don't worry Shin, I don't even have the intention of living after this." Shin opens his mouth to say something, but words never came to him. I walk away from his emotional gaze. I walk from all feeling. I walk to my death with a light load on my shoulders. My silver haired head held high with dignity. My stomach is heavy with either lead, or blood. I am not enjoying this in the least bit, nor am I resenting it. I feel trapped in my own skin, I want to be free from life.
My cold hand grasps the door handle and I push.
-All voices crying for freedom-
*(*
Howdy fans! Wow…sorry random outburst. A lot of you have been saying I don't update enough....I take that as a compliment but I also apologize b/c school is getting really time consuming and I don't have a single study hall this semester so updating will be on the slow side. I am sorry if this upsets any of you but I have more than a dozen other excuses that are valid if you really want to hear them ^^()
Also I don't know when the war on titan was…so for the purpose of this fic it was after Spike left the syndicate and Julia betrayed him. If you don't like it…too bad. XP
Someone mentioned last chapter that I go btw past and present tense too much. Well, it could very well have been me not beta reading enough....or whenever I do thoughts of a person thinking about the past....it's in past tense. And when people talk....sometimes in past tense. I am sorry but being this is a 1st person fic the line between past and present is blurry....at least for me
do not ask me about past perfect or anything like that, even though I am a native english speaker, my grammar skills are not that good.
Anyway....part one is coming to a close....probably three more chapters at the max....though I am not sure. I will take a break from writing Part II b/c I want to post my Inuyasha fic and see if anyone will actually review a X over fic....yeah right...I think I dream too much XD
Well....I have to go do more homework and volleyball and I have to go train for a whole other sport....and painting homework...gah! *bangs head against a wall*
Thanx for reviewing, they really do help! But mostly thanks for reading
Read everything that jumps out at you, or just seems interesting...who knows you might like it! *^^*
Your *overworked*ff buddy L.O.H.
